Correlation of Magnetic Resonance Patterns of Lumbar Disc Disease with Clinical Symptomatology of Patients

Objective: To describe the patterns of degenerative changes in lumbar spine discs in correlation with clinical symptomatology of patients.Patients and Methods: This cross sectional analy-tical study was carried out in Radiology Department of Children Hospital Lahore, from October 2006 to October 2007. The study included 170 patients who presented with low back and leg pain. All patients underwent lumbar MRI using 1.5 T - scanner. MRI scans were evaluated for magnitude and location of nerve compression, disc bulge or disc herniation and the nature of nerve and thecal sac deformation and association of these findings with age, sex and clinical symptomato-logy of patients was evaluated.Results: The study included 170 patients, the age range was 20 to 79 years (mean 47 years). Disc bulge was most frequent finding seen in 128 patients (74%), disc herniation was seen in 42 patients (25%) and was common in patient with acute history of backache, while disc bulge was common in patients with chronic symptoms. Overall 131 patients (76%) had MRI evidence of nerve or thecal sac compression. There was no significant association between segmental distribution of symptoms and presence of anatomic impairment. However, severe nerve compression and disc herniation were significantly associated with pain distal to the knees.Conclusion: The presence of disc herniation or ipsilateral severe nerve compression at one or multiple sites is strongly associated with distal leg pain and sen-sory symptoms in that leg. Mild to moderate nerve compression, disc degeneration or bulging, and non disc degenerative changes are not significantly associated with specific pain patterns